COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley announced that Alicia Tournebize (Charmeil, France / Lycee Alain Fournier) has signed a financial aid agreement to attend the University and play for the Gamecocks. The 6-foot-4 freshman forward will join the team following the holiday break and begin classes at the start of the Spring 2026 semester.
“Alicia has an incredible skill set and basketball IQ,” Staley said. “She has great touch around the rim, can shoot it out to the 3-point line and is a shot blocker. We’re excited that she and her family chose to bring her game to Columbia, and the FAMS are going to enjoy what she adds to our team on the court and off.”
Tournebize has been part of Tango Bourges Basket, an historically dominant team in France’s premier women’s professional league (Ligue Féminine de BasketBall), starting with its U15 program before making her way to the professional roster on a “training-intern contract” this season. In league games, she averaged 7.7 minutes and shot 53.3 percent from the field this season. She opened the league season with 12 points in 12 minutes against Toulouse Metropole. During EuroLeague outings with the club, her shooting percentage rose to 57.1 percent.
Representing her home country in FIBA competitions, Tournebize helped France to a third-place finish at the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket. She led her team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.9 rpg), both of which ranked among the top 10 in the tournament and helped her claim a place on the All-Star 5. Her team-high 19 points against Belgium in the third-place game capped her strong tournament. In 2024, she was part of the French team that took fourth at the FIBA U17 World Cup.
Tournebize’s path to playing in the United States follows that of her mother Isabelle Fijalkowski, who played at Colorado and in the WNBA along with a decorated international career that included two EuroLeague titles and five French League championships. Fijalkowski is in the French Basketball Academy Hall of Fame (2011) and the FIBA Hall of Fame (2020) and is set to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.
No. 3/3 South Carolina is back in action on Sun., Dec. 28, hosting Providence at Colonial Life Arena. The noon tipoff on SEC Network will be the Gamecocks’ final tune-up before conference play begins on Thu., Jan. 1.
